Remus Lupin and the Case of The Missing Jumper
by ThatFilmStudent
Summary: None of Remus Lupin's clothes are particularly noteworthy or fashionable, not when compared with Sirius Black and his heeled boots or James Potter and his Quidditch jersey or Peter Pettigrew and his colourful shoes, but he doesn't much care because his red jumper is comfortable. In which Remus searches for his jumper but we all know where it is. Remus/Sirius.


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these HP characters or settings. Nor do I own any of the television shows / franchises, bands or other notable products mentioned in the following story.**

* * *

Remus Lupin had a specific style, one that was quite known around Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; perhaps because, when compared with those he hung around with, Remus dressed smartly and respectably and according to the appropriate dress code for the situation.

For school, Remus wore his uniform in its entirety (shirt, jumper, trousers, robes) complete with black socks and sensible shoes. His red and gold tie was always done up correctly and his polished school shoes were always laced up tightly.

For special occasions, Remus dressed up. For Magical events, he wore his midnight blue robes, bought by his father for his seventeenth birthday. For Muggle functions, he wore his jet-black suit, bought by his mother for his cousin's wedding. Magic was used to resize where and when necessary.

When it came to downtime, after lessons or on the weekends or when he wasn't at school, Remus preferred to wear comfortable clothes: jumpers or cardigans over smart shirts or hoodies, along with a pair of jeans.

None of his clothes were particularly noteworthy or fashionable, not when compared with Sirius Black and his heeled boots or James Potter and his Quidditch jersey or Peter Pettigrew and his colourful shoes, but he didn't much care so long as he was comfortable and warm – which he always was.

Remus Lupin had one item of clothing that he wore most of all: a crimson jumper. It was nothing flash. There were no words or slogans on it; no images or interesting patterns. It was just a simple jumper: big and red and soft and boring.

And he hadn't seen it for days.

Remus had looked everywhere for it: in his trunk, under his bed, in the washing basket, in all of the wardrobes (just in case the House Elves had made a mistake somehow and had accidentally put it in one of the other wardrobes). He had even ventured to the Laundry Room to see if the Elves had seen it but: "No, Master Lupin, we have not seens it."

His boring but reliable jumper was nowhere to be found and that was beginning to frustrate Remus because, while the pullover was nothing special, it was his favourite, and it was his favourite for three reasons: one, it was fucking comfortable; two, it was one of his House colours (Gryffindor Pride and all that); and three, Sirius loved to cuddle whenever he wore it.

(Okay, so Sirius loved to cuddle all of the time because he really was a dog at heart, but whenever Remus wore that particular jumper, he seemed to make cuddles his top priority. And while Remus was not a fan of Public Displays of Affection, he didn't mind Sirius's constant need to touch him because Sirius was addictive and worth it.)

"Moony?"

Remus looked up to find Sirius standing in the doorway, grey eyes sparkling with interest and a curious grin on his lips. He felt his heart do a weird little flip and found himself marveling his best friend. Sirius was too handsome for his own good sometimes and the werewolf often wondered how he was allowed to be associated with something of such ethereal beauty.

"Yes?" he responded.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked, leaning rakishly against the doorway.

Remus paused and looked at the mess on the floor.

Good question, he thought, because what was he doing? He had emptied his wardrobe in an attempt to find his missing jumper, wondering if perhaps he had missed it in his previous two searches, but when he had failed to find it yet again, he had just sat down and contemplated life.

Remus knew what he must look like. He knew he looked like a madman, sitting in an empty wardrobe with his clothes and shoes littered around him, but he was past the point of caring. He was tired and school was kicking his arse and the Full Moon had just been and all he wanted was some comfort, but his jumper was missing and had been for three days – that he knew of! Who knew how long it had been missing before he noticed?!

In short, Remus didn't know what he was doing.

"Nothing," he answered finally. "I'm just... looking for something."

"Ah, of course," Sirius nodded understandingly, though it was obvious that he was trying to smother his amusement. "Anything important?"

Remus sighed and replied, "I suppose not really."

Sirius grinned and straightened up, moving into the room and producing his wand with a flourish. He offered his hand to Remus, who took it, and hauled him up. Once Remus was out of the closet, Sirius swished his wand and wordlessly returned the clothing on the floor to their hangers.

"Well, then," Sirius said, pocketing his wand and looking up at Remus. "Since you're not doing anything important, fancy a walk?"

Remus glanced at his clothes, now neatly hung up and ordered by colour. He supposed a bit of fresh air couldn't hurt. It wasn't like he had anything else to do, was it? Other than obsess over where his jumper had disappeared to and when he last saw it.

"Sure," he replied.

"Wahey!" Sirius whooped.

Remus grabbed his thickest cloak and shrugged it on before he pulled on his winter boots and wound his Gryffindor scarf around his neck. He then paused and gave his roommate a quick onceover. Sirius looked fine in his winter robes and fingerless gloves, but his clunky high heeled boots were not exactly suitable for the current snowy weather.

"Uh, you don't want to change first?" he asked, because he really didn't fancy carrying Sirius back to the castle should he fall and hurt himself.

"No, why?" Sirius asked, looking like he genuinely didn't know why.

Remus opened his mouth to answer but decided that it was best not to argue his point because he knew Sirius Black and he knew that Sirius would wear the boots regardless, even (perhaps especially) if they were a safety risk.

"No reason," he replied. "Let's go."

Sirius grinned, grabbed his wrist and began leading the way.

Remus was not done searching yet. He decided that he would give it until the next week. If the jumper was still not in his possession by Monday, then he would start asking questions.

* * *

Two days later, Remus was still missing his favourite jumper.

He had officially exhausted himself. He had searched under his bed two more times. He had unpacked and repacked his trunk three more times. He had rummaged through all of the wardrobes again (just in case). The laundry had been taken and washed and returned but none of the House Elves had seen anything. He had even sent a letter home to his parents to see if they had seen it anywhere, but they had not. He had officially searched everywhere, so it was time to start asking questions.

Sighing, Remus stared down at his Ancient Runes textbook.

The Library was quiet that Monday afternoon but there were still a few students studying and chatting away. Remus glanced around the table at the members of his study group: Lily Evans (fellow Gryffindor and future wife of James Potter), Dyanola Dearborn (Slytherin and girlfriend of Peter Pettigrew), Davey Gudgeon (Hufflepuff and idiot who went too close to the Whomping Willow), and Dorcas Meadowes (Ravenclaw and amicable ex-girlfriend of Remus's). They all seemed so focused on their essays, but all Remus could do was think about his missing jumper. He was bored and ready to go back to his Dorm. He was a bad student.

"Remus, what did you write for this symbol?" Dorcas asked, showing Remus the symbol.

"Uh, Othila, it means estate, heritage, possession," he answered.

"Ah, yes. Thank you," she smiled and quickly wrote it down.

Remus nodded and sat back in his chair.

It had to be somewhere. Clothing doesn't just up and leave. (Well, there was that one time that Peter's socks walked off. But that was down to a Charm, so it didn't count.) He glanced around the table again, his eyes landing on Lily. Lily Evans was an astute observer. Perhaps she knew where his jumper was... No harm in asking, right?

"Lily, you know my red jumper, right?"

Lily grinned and replied, "Not personally, but I have seen it before."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha. Funny. Seriously, I've lost it. Have you seen it anywhere?"

Lily paused and looked up at him. "Where could I have possibly seen your jumper, Remus?" she asked, which was a fair question really.

Remus shrugged in response.

"I haven't seen it," she replied. "Have you tried asking the Elves?"

"Yes," he answered. "They haven't seen it. Dottie said she'd keep a lookout."

"Have you asked your friends?"

"No," he said. "They don't even know where their own clothing is."

Before he could say anything else, hands covered his eyes and a familiar voice asked, "Guess who?"

Remus grinned and replied, "I do hope it's Sirius, otherwise he will be very unhappy that another man is touching me."

Sirius snorted and removed his hands, moving to sit on the desk. "Yes, I imagine he would be very unhappy if another man had his hands on you," he replied semi-jokingly.

"No hands have been on me," the werewolf assured.

"Good," Sirius winked and glanced down at the books on the table. "Ancient Runes? How fascinating."

Remus hummed and took a covert glance around the table to find no reaction from his study buddies at his interaction with Sirius. His and Sirius's romantic relationship wasn't a secret, but it wasn't exactly flaunted either. Not everyone at Hogwarts was accepting or even tolerant but his friends were and his study group didn't seem to mind, so he let himself relax a little.

"Moony, I'm bored," Sirius stated, turning back to face him. "Entertain me."

Remus scoffed and leaned forward, grabbing his quill and pulling his textbook closer to himself. Yes, he was bored, and yes, he wanted to ditch with Sirius, but there was a reason he was in a study group: he needed help and so did the others. He wasn't going to leave just because Sirius had asked.

"No, I'm busy," he replied, waggling his quill as if to prove how busy he was. "Go and bother James."

Sirius pouted and reached out to tug at Remus's collar, his fingers making contact with Remus's skin and making the werewolf feel, quite literally, hot under the collar.

"I don't want to bother James," Sirius replied, flexing his fingers purposefully. "I want to bother you."

"Yes, well," Remus cleared his throat, "I'm studying."

"But Moony..." he whined.

"We're nearly finished," Lily stated.

(Remus silently thanked all of the deities above for Lily's existence because he was seconds away from packing his things and leaving with Sirius. Perhaps Lily sensed that. He decided not to think about how obvious he was.)

"How nearly?" Sirius asked.

Lily glanced at her wristwatch and replied, "About twenty minutes."

Sirius seemed to think about this before he removed his hand from Remus's neck and said, "Fine. Then I'll wait here."

"Sirius," Remus warned, because he knew Sirius and he knew that the other student could not sit still for more than ten minutes unless he had something to do – which he didn't.

"I won't say anything," Sirius replied, taking the seat next to him. "I promise."

Remus hummed uncertainly but allowed it and returned to his work.

Sirius was silent for about a minute before he began tapping his fingers on the table. Then he started whistling. Then he started balancing on his chair. Remus valiantly ignored every sound and movement Sirius made, focusing on his Runes essay.

After about ten minutes of sighing and fidgeting, Remus looked up to see the others getting agitated. Sirius Black was a distraction, in every sense of the word, and Remus had learned how to ignore the other student's restless behaviour years ago, but he forgot that other people hadn't dealt with Sirius on a daily basis for several years and therefore did not know how to forget him.

Lily didn't seem too bothered but the others looked ready to snap (Davey kept glaring at Sirius every seven seconds and Dyanola looked about ready to stab him with her quill), so Remus closed his book and said, "Right. I'm done."

Sirius grinned and asked, "Really?"

"Yes," Remus replied, stuffing his books and essay into his bag. He then stood up and pushed his chair in. "I'll see you lot on Thursday," he said to the group before he grabbed Sirius's sleeve and added, "Come on. Let's go."

Remus then left the Library, a satisfied Sirius Black following behind.

* * *

The next day, Remus was lying on his bed and contemplating how insane he was.

Honestly, he was fixating on a piece of clothing. And it wasn't even a good piece of clothing. It was just a boring jumper. It was stupid and illogical, and yet he could not stop thinking about it. But, well, that was probably to be expected. He could be neurotic at the best of times and it was rare he lost anything. He was also quite possessive of his things and he didn't like it when—

"Fucking fuck!"

Remus was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of James Potter swearing. He sat up and stared at his frazzled best mate who was hunting around in his bedside table. Sirius was in the bathroom, getting changed and singing some Queen song, and Peter was in some corner of the castle with Dyanola, so it was up to Remus to de-agitate James. So he asked:

"What's wrong, Prongs?"

"I can't find my bloody boots and we have practice in five bloody minutes," James replied, slamming his bedside drawer shut and moving over to his wardrobe.

"Your boots are under your bed," Remus informed. "You kicked them under there yesterday because Lily was coming up and you didn't want the room to be a mess."

"Ah, shit," James muttered before he dove under his bed. There was silence for a second before a loud whoop and he reemerged, his boots in hand. "Cheers, Moony."

Remus hummed and watched as James pulled on his boots. "Hey, James, you haven't seen my jumper by any chance, have you?"

"Which one?"

"The red one."

"Oh. Um..." James frowned and began lacing up his boots. "No, mate. Last I saw, you were wearing it. Not seen it since. Have you checked under your bed?"

"Yeah," Remus mumbled, a bit disheartened.

"In your trunk?"

"Obviously."

"What about in the washing basket?"

"Yes, Prongs, I've checked everywhere," Remus replied.

"Sorry, mate. Not a clue. Maybe ask Pete," James suggested. "He sees everything."

Remus hummed and stood up, ready to grab the Map and find their fellow Marauder. Before he could go and search, however, the bathroom door opened and Sirius stepped out.

"Remus, my darling," he greeted. "Are you coming to watch us practice?"

Remus didn't answer. His brain short-circuited and he found himself unable to do anything but stare at Sirius who was standing in front of him with his fitted Quidditch uniform on and his dark hair up in a sloppy bun. After a moment, he remembered that he owned a set of vocal chords and he attempted to say something witty, but all he could say was: "Huh?"

James snorted and coughed, "Smooth."

Remus ignored him, too distracted by the Gryffindor who was standing mere inches away from him. If he reached out, he could touch Sirius...

Sirius grinned, clearly aware of the affect he had on the werewolf. "Quidditch," he said. "James has us doing drills and what-have-you. Are you coming to support your devastatingly handsome boyfriend?"

"Uh..."

"Hint," Sirius leaned in close, his hand twisting itself in Remus's shirt and pulling the werewolf closer, and whispered, "The answer had better be yes, or I'm not going to give you your surprise tonight."

"I – Yes. I will be there," he answered.

"Good," Sirius replied, pulling Remus closer and planting a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Right, that's enough of that," James interrupted, fully booted and raring to go. "Off we go."

Sirius grinned and released Remus. He then winked and followed James out of the room.

Remus absently grabbed his coat and traipsed after the Quidditch players, deciding to ogle Sirius first and ask Peter later.

* * *

Later that same day, Remus stumbled into the common room.

James and Sirius were at the Kitchens and Lily was with her girlfriends, so he had decided to find Peter because James was right – if there was anyone in Hogwarts that knew where his jumper might be, it was Peter Pettigrew. He glanced around the room and found Peter playing a game of chess with Alice Fortescue by the fireplace.

Remus strolled over to where his fellow Marauder was sitting and sat down on the couch behind him. "Hey, Pete, got a second?"

Peter held up one hand and stared at the chessboard for a moment longer before he moved his knight and nodded, satisfied. He then turned to face Remus and asked, "What's up?"

"Have you seen my red jumper anywhere? I haven't seen it in ages."

Peter paused to think before he replied, "Nah, haven't seen it. Have you asked Padfoot?"

"No."

"Have you checked Padfoot's trunk?"

"No... should I?"

"Definitely," Peter replied.

Remus frowned. "Why?"

"Because he's always nicking your clothes, isn't he," Peter retorted, like it was the most obvious thing in the world – which it absolutely wasn't.

"Is he?"

"Yeah, he wears them when you're not around," Peter informed. "I caught him a couple of times. He said you let him borrow them. I didn't really believe him, but I wasn't about to argue with him."

"I was not aware of this," Remus replied, his mind automatically going to all of the times his clothes had mysteriously disappeared and then reappeared mere days later, always freshly cleaned but always smelling like Sirius.

"Didn't think so," Peter mused. "You should check his trunk."

"How did I not know this?"

Peter shrugged and answered, "Well, you're always busy when he's wearing your clothes, aren't you?"

Remus hummed and stood up, heading for the Dorm.

* * *

Minutes later, Remus was elbow deep in Sirius's trunk.

So far, he had found: a scarf, two t-shirts, and one blue jumper – all of which he threw into the washing basket to be taken and cleaned days ago. Now that he was thinking about it, that sneaky bastard had been stealing his clothes since fifth year.

"Uh, Moony, what are you doing?" Sirius asked, leaning against the bedpost and staring down at the werewolf amongst his personal possessions.

Remus flinched guiltily, having not heard Sirius enter the room, and stood up. "I, uh... I was just looking for my jumper."

Sirius nodded slowly and glanced down nervously. "In my trunk?"

"Yes," he replied. "I haven't seen it in a while and Pete said..."

"Pete said to violate my privacy?"

"No," Remus answered quickly. "Well, yes. Kind of. He just said that you might have seen it."

"Right. Well, as you can clearly see, your jumper is not in my trunk," Sirius stated.

"Fair," Remus agreed, because his red jumper very clearly wasn't in Sirius's trunk – even if the rest of his clothes were. He grabbed the Star Trek t-shirt that he had pulled from Sirius's trunk minutes ago and held it up. "But why was this in your trunk?"

Sirius stared at the garment for a second before he coolly replied, "I didn't have any clothes last week, remember? The House Elves probably just put it in my trunk by accident."

Ah.

Right.

Now he remembered.

Last week, James had put itching powder in all of Sirius's clothes because Sirius had charmed James's hair to change colour around Lily the week before, so Remus had been forced to let his boyfriend borrow his clothes. Perhaps the House Elves had just put his clothes in Sirius's trunk by accident. But then... why would Peter lie?

"Ah."

"Yes," Sirius said. "Your jumper isn't in my trunk, Re. Have you checked the usual places?"

Remus nodded morosely and threw his t-shirt onto his bed. "Yeah, it's not in any of the wardrobes. None of the others have seen it. The House Elves don't have a clue. Pete said you might know, so I thought I'd look in your trunk but it's not there. I'm sorry, Pads. I didn't mean to invade your privacy."

"It's okay," Sirius replied, moving closer and taking Remus's hands in his own. "I forgive you."

Remus smiled weakly and nodded once.

"Hey," Sirius grabbed Remus's chin and held his gaze, "I know how you are about your things. It'll turn up. I promise."

"Maybe," he muttered, but he was unsure.

Remus had a niggling feeling that it wasn't a coincidence, that his clothes weren't in Sirius's trunk just because of the Itching Power Incident, that Peter was correct when he said that Sirius had nicked his clothes and wore them when he wasn't around. Perhaps he was just being paranoid.

"Come on," Sirius urged, grabbing Remus's hand and pulling him out of the room. "Let's do something chaotic."

Remus allowed himself to be dragged to the common room, his mind travelling a million miles an hour. Perhaps he was just being paranoid but it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure that Sirius was the culprit.

But he needed to know for certain.

He couldn't just walk up to Sirius and accuse him. No, that would only result in stony silence or a week's worth of pranks – or both, most likely. No, what he needed was undeniable proof. And he needed a subtle way to get that evidence. He needed to do something that he could explain away, should Sirius become suspicious of his intentions.

With that in mind, he began planning.

* * *

The next day, Remus set his plan in motion.

It wasn't an overly complicated plan. Peter said that Sirius wore his clothes when he wasn't around, so he planned to not be around. All he was going to do was say that he was going to the Library and then, after a reasonable amount of time, he was going to return to the Dorm and hopefully catch Sirius either wearing or stealing his clothes. If he was wrong and Sirius wasn't taking his clothes, then his jumper was lost forever but he would no longer suspect his boyfriend. If he was right and Sirius was a thieving little bastard, then his clothes would (hopefully) no longer go missing and his jumper might be returned. Either way, he got an answer.

"Right, I'm off," Remus announced, standing up and grabbing his bag.

"Off?" Sirius asked, looking like he had never heard the word before. "Off where?"

"I'm going to the Library," he lied, making his way to the door.

He had planned it perfectly. James was going to tutor some third years in DADA and Peter was going to meet up with Dyanola. Without anyone to distract or be distracted by, Sirius would be bored and would have nothing to do, hopefully resulting in some jumper theft.

"Your study group don't meet up on Wednesdays," Sirius stated, abandoning his game of Explosive Snap with James and following Remus to the door.

"Right, but I'm not meeting up with my study group," he informed. "I need to finish my Care of Magical Creatures assignment, so I'm going to the Library to get some books."

"But..." Sirius paused and stepped into Remus's personal space. He then added quietly, "I thought we were going to make use of the empty room, since the others will be otherwise occupied."

Remus actually felt a little bad when he looked at Sirius's hopeful face.

Alone time with just him and Sirius was rare, what with them sharing a room with two other boys and with the Marauders being a tightknit group and spending every day attached at the hip. But he was an obsessive prick and he needed to know where his jumper was.

"Sorry, Pads, I really do need to get this done," he said. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

Sirius frowned. "Well... I could come to the Library with you—"

"No!"

Sirius's frown deepened and it made Remus feel even worse. But he had a job to do.

"I mean, no," he said more calmly. "I just... You're a distraction, Pads, and I need to focus."

"I won't distract you," Sirius replied eagerly. "I promise."

"Sorry, Pads."

Sirius sighed and moved to sit on his bed. "Well, what am I meant to do?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Homework?"

"Remus, be serious."

Remus grinned. "I'll be back in a bit," he promised before nodded to the others and left.

* * *

Around twenty minutes later, Remus stood up from his hiding spot and made his way back up to the Dorm. James and Peter had left already, and Sirius had been alone for roughly ten minutes. That was enough time, in Remus's eyes, for Sirius Black to get bored and do something stupid – like steal clothes, for example.

As Remus made his way up the stairs, he wondered what he would find.

Would Sirius be lounging around in his jumper? Would he be studying, or sleeping, or wanking? What if he wasn't wearing the jumper? What if, when Remus entered the room, Sirius was just sitting there in his own clothes? What would happen then?

Only one way to find out.

Steeling himself, Remus stormed into the room.

Sirius jumped and froze, looking like a dog that had just been caught peeing on the rug. "Remus?!" he yelped. "What – What are you doing?"

"Me? What am I doing? What are **you** doing?" Remus retorted, dropping his bag and closing the door. "You're wearing my jumper!"

"I..." Sirius straightened up and stared back defiantly. "What are you doing here? I thought you were studying!"

"You've watched me go spare for a week and you had it all along!"

"I didn't – I didn't mean to..."

Sirius trailed off and tugged at the sleeve of Remus's (no longer) missing red jumper, his combative façade collapsing quickly, and Remus suddenly realised that his friend was nervous. It was a peculiar look on the usually confident Gryffindor. Remus wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

"Listen, I didn't know you were looking for it," Sirius stated, fingers still fidgeting with the fraying sleeves. "Not until James mentioned it. And I was going to return it, Re, I really was, but I just – I never got around to it. And then yesterday, you were searching in my trunk and I realised how serious you were about finding it and I was going to get it washed and returned today but then you went off to do your assignment and I missed you, so I just... put it on."

"Sirius..."

"I'm not sorry."

"What?"

"I'm not sorry," Sirius repeated, squaring his shoulders and staring back unflinchingly. That was the Sirius Black that Remus knew; scrappy and stubborn and beautiful. Sirius continued, "I missed you and I like how you smell, and your jumper is soft and it smells like you and it puts me at ease when you're not around. So I'm not sorry. But if you want it back, I'll give it back."

"Sirius..." Remus shook his head fondly and moved closer, grabbing Sirius's hands to stop them from twitching. "Yes, I want it back, but I don't mind if you borrow it."

Sirius squinted up at him. "Really?"

"Really," Remus confirmed. "I'd just rather you tell me first."

Sirius assessed him for a long moment before he nodded and said, "Okay."

Remus smiled and took a minute to consider Sirius Black in his jumper. It didn't matter what Sirius wore, he always looked handsome; like he was sculpted by the Gods themselves. But seeing him in the boring attire that Remus was known for did things to the werewolf that he couldn't quite describe. He could admit, however, that it made him feel a bit flustered; and after a moment of staring, he said:

"You look cute."

Sirius frowned, offended, and removed his hands from Remus's, placing them on his hips as he replied, "I am not a puppy, Remus. I do not look cute. I am manly and dashing."

"Sirius, my jumper is two sizes too big for you," Remus advised. "You're practically drowning in it. You look cute, whether you like it or not."

Sirius pouted but did not reply. Instead, he stepped forward, wrapped his arms around Remus's waist, and planted a kiss on his lips. Remus returned the kiss immediately but pulled back a moment later because the stench of his jumper was decidedly unsexy. It had needed a wash a week ago when he threw it in the basket but now that Sirius had worn it – multiple times, it seemed – it was beginning to smell very bad.

"Sirius, there is a reason I put this in the basket last week," he informed.

Sirius gave himself and the jumper a sniff and said, "It still smells like you."

"I'll give you any other jumper," Remus bribed, "But this one needs to be washed ASAP."

Sirius sighed dramatically but relented and said, "Fine. I want the jumper you're wearing right now."

Remus raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes."

Remus huffed but stepped back and pulled his jumper off before he held it out to Sirius.

For a moment, Sirius did nothing. He just stared at the shirtless werewolf. Then he grinned impishly and removed the red jumper, dropping to the floor. He took Remus's recently worn green jumper and threw it to the side.

"Oh, dear," he said, grabbing Remus's belt and pulling the other student closer by it. "I appear to be jumperless with a dashing werewolf. Whatever am I to do?"

Remus snorted, unable to hide his amusement, and replied, "I wonder."

"How about we make use of this empty Dorm?" Sirius suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Remus found he didn't have an argument.

* * *

Later, when they were lying in bed together, on the edge of falling asleep, Sirius wrapped around him like a tree and his hands running through Sirius's hair, Remus recalled Sirius's words and wondered...

"Padfoot...?"

"Hm?"

"Earlier, you said you liked the way I smell..."

"Ahuh," Sirius hummed and nuzzled Remus's neck.

"Is that – I mean, after my runs, when I'm sweating and disgusting and in desperate need of a shower, is that why you practically tackle me? Because I stink?"

Sirius was silent for a moment too long before he pushed his face into Remus's neck and admitted, "I like the way you smell."

Remus made a face and replied, "You're gross."

"Yes, but you love me."

"Yes. Unfortunately, I do."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Written: December 2019  
Edited: December 2019**


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